If "lock her up" was an outrage, so is "let's put him in prison"

The real danger is not the death of civility but that if you think the other side is criminal, you won’t play by the normal rules of American democracy and learn to live with it if they win elections. Once you begin thinking of your opponents as criminals, then any means, fair or foul, becomes acceptable to prevent them from attaining or keeping power regardless of the legal niceties.

Many Republicans think Clinton should have been prosecuted over her security breaches. And most Democrats believe Trump is guilty of crimes even if they define them, let alone have confidence that such charges could be successfully prosecuted.

Those opinions have been reinforced by our bifurcated political culture in which we read, listen to, and watch different media. W no longer believe in the same facts about issues (let alone how they should be decided).

That breeds not merely an unhealthy contempt for opponents, but also a tendency toward situational ethics in which the party and politicians you support are excused for the same behavior for which you demand jail time for their opponents. Even worse, the perception that the future of the republic is at stake in this contest also creates a sense that any tactic aimed at defeating opponents is to be preferred to electoral defeat.